We left one week before Hitler
Matti Cohen was born on December 27, 1924 in Ústí nad Labem into a Jewish family as Mathias (Matitjahu) Kohn. His father Kamil Kohn was a chemist and he was one of important Zionist activists, and his mother Zdeňka, née Ascherová, worked as a paediatrician. Matti was a member of the Zionist groups Tchelet Lavan and Makabi since his young years. In autumn 1938 the Kohn family moved to Prague and his father managed to obtain emigration certificates there. In March 1939 the whole family went to Palestine. Matti studied at a technical school and after passing his final examinations he continued at Technion in Haifa. As a member of the army organization Haganah he took part in the war for independence of the State of Israel. He completed his studies in 1953 and he worked in technical jobs. In 1953 he married and with his wife they raised two children. Matti Cohen lives in Ramat Gan.
